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Friday, April 1, 2011

Sucker Punch: Awesome or Not?

I watched Sucker Punch after 2 days of no sleep and cramming while high on sugar. I was so out of it that I didn't get whatever was happening on-screen. Haha. But after a well-deserved night of sleep, here's my two cents:

Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD

I loved that pink bunny robot. It was pretty sweet.

So Sucker Punch starts with about ten minutes of showing how Baby Doll (Browning) gets placed in an Arkham-style mental institution all the while set to music (she accidentally kills her sister while defending her from their stepfather who goes all berserk after learning that his dead wife left him no money). Everything that happens afterwards is sort of in Baby Doll's mind. She uses her imagination to escape from the real world to two alternate realities (one that reminds me of that place in the film Moulin Rouge and another fantasy/videogame-like/bad-ass world with dragons, robots, samurai warriors, and reanimated steam-powered Nazis). Baby Doll concocts a plan to get out of the mental institution and be free from their captors Blue (Isaac), Madam Gorski (Gugino) and the High Roller (Hamm) by collecting certain materials needed for the escape through the help of other patients/prisoners Blondie (Hudgens), Rocket (Malone), Sweet Pea (Cornish) and Amber (Chung), along with a mysterious guide (Glenn).

Anyway, the visuals were pretty awesome, despite everyone else saying that they characters were copies from other films (orcs at dragon castle were from LOTR, general in Nazi-world was eerily Freddy Krueger-ish, the robots in the train scene were from I, Robot etc.) and the CGI was really bad. I thought it was pretty okay, even with all the slow-mo scenes Snyder is famous for since they were placed strategically and served to really highlight the action. I thought the music choice was great as well.

Will the real Freddy Krueger please say "aaaah".

As for the story, I'm going to have to say that there wasn't much character development. The other girls never explained why or how they got into the mental institution and they didn't really seem insane. Also, because of the lack of character development, when everyone started dying, I was like "Aww. okay." then moved on.

The movie was so action-packed that there was only time to sneak in a few lines here and there. As I've said, I didn't really get attached to the characters much (I even kept forgetting their names, or maybe that's because I have an attention span of a goldfish). Most of the film takes place in the alternate realities and in the first alternate reality (the dance place), Baby Doll is supposed to put everyone present in a trance as she dances to music (the music is important) but as she starts to dance, she and the other girls are transported into the second alternate reality with the robots and the dragons (Baby Doll's dance is never really shown and that was disappointing but meh). The entire thing is supposed to be riddled with symbolism and I sort of get that, but then there isn't really much of a connection to the real world. An example would be the three giant samurai warriors Baby Doll fought the first time she entered into the second alternate reality. What are the implications of this in real life? There are a lot more scenes like that.

"We're just here for the lulz."

Well, sure, some things was sort of semi-explained and shown in the end, but not enough to make you believe it. Another thing, was there were these semi-stupid scenes that seemed like they were only forced in there to make the plot work out (but then it doesn't). An example would be the writing of the four items needed on the back of a chalkboard. Anyone can memorize four items, why keep your plan where the bad guy could easily expose it? Also, the part with the chef and the short-circuiting of the radio. If they didn't throw the pot of potatoes dramatically to the floor and have all its contents spilled, they would've succeeded and Rocket wouldn't have died. Also, Vanessa Hudgens, you snitch.

Okay, so I guess this would be a real hit to guys in their late teens or twenties who love hot chicks, videogames, guns, robots, etc. I suppose it succeeded in that aspect, at least. Haha.

i love sucker punch... it in an original story with layers of symbolism and parallels... and objects with hidden meanings (the engravings on babydolls sword is the storyline of the movie)... i think most people cant look deep into the untold elements of this movie... and only take them at face value... i think thats why sucker punch has so many bad reviews